'Elliot' grease fire phoenix 🏁

We've just listened back to yesterday's Nolan Show (Chris Buckler standing in), which featured a discussion on Fèile an Phobail's cancellation of the @ni_wrn event. We were genuinely taken aback by the misinformed and vitriolic comments about 'the people on that panel' made by People Before Profit's Fiona Ferguson. To be clear: Gaels For Fair Play is an all-Ireland group of grassroots Gaelic Games members campaigning for fair and safe sport for women and girls who play Gaelic football and camogie. We are opposed to the @LadiesFootball transgender policy because iIt has been established, unequivocally, that inclusion of males in the female category cannot be balanced against safety and fairness for female players. We know this because science, empirical evidence and basic common sense tells us so. Asking the custodians of our sport to protect the female category is not 'pumping out hatred'. We do not wish to 'exclude' trans people from Gaelic Games. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to participate but respectfully ask that trans-identifying males compete in the correct sex category in the interests of fairness and safety for females. Trans-identifying females, who accept that biological diferences would make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to compete in a men's team, play in the correct sex category. Why, then, is it unthinkable that trans-identifying males would do the same? We have repeatedly called on the GAA to foster an inclusive environment in men's Gaelic football and hurling in which trans-identifying males can feel safe, welcome and valued. This is the model of inclusion all ethical and responsible governing bodies should strive for; not a flawed version where the price of 'inclusion' is the removal of fairness and safety for women and girls. We wonder if Fiona, as a committed feminist, might find it concerning that the LGFA will not disclose to female Gaelic footballers if a male is present on the pitch, thereby denying women the right to give informed consent about what happens to their own bodies. We hope it would also concern her to know that women who were injured after being tackled by male players chose not to raise the incident with the LGFA because they were afraid of being stigmatised. Lastly: it's news to us that groups such as ours are 'heavily funded by right-wing groups in America' given that the placards we did up for our last protest were A4 posters sellotaped onto the back of a Cornflakes box. We are entirely self-funded and are raising this issue because we think women and girls deserve fairness, safety and dignity in our sport; it is a disgraceful slur to brand our words as 'hate speech'. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002z6…